Out and About with Outreach
BioBlitz in Poland
By Róisín Nash and Barbara Maciejewska
A BioBlitz is an event in which the participants race to find as many species as possible within a given time. It is way to
bring together scientists, volunteers and the local community to discover, identify and learn about the flora and fauna at
their back door, e.g. in a local park or natural area.
The emphasis in a BioBlitz is on recording the
total number of species, not individually
naming every creature that has been found.
The BioBlitz is a tool for local biodiversity
exploration, education and investigation which
is usually coordinated by museums, botanic
gardens or local authorities. The result of the
race, which typically lasts 12 hours, is a new
dataset on the distribution and occurrence of
fauna and flora within a specific area.
Associated with the taxonomy are a number of
Outreach activities that help to raise public
awareness of the vast array of species
(biodiversity) living in an urban reserve and its
relevance to everyday life.
The first Polish BioBlitz was hosted by the
Institute of Oceanology PAS in Sopot, Poland,
as part of a three-day science festival in May
2008 – the VIth Baltic Science Festival. The
BioBlitz, which was supported by MarBEF,
involved a four-hour competition between the
terrestrial botanists and entomologists from
the Institute of Biology, University of Gdansk,
and the marine biologists from the Sea
Fisheries Institute, Institute of Oceanography
and the Institute of Oceanology. This event was
a part of the Baltic Science Day held in Sopot
and attracted a number of visitors from
neighbouring primary and secondary schools.
The chosen study location was a dune with a
nearby seaside park for the terrestrial study
and a public beach with shallow bathing water
for the marine study. Twelve scientists
identified the flora and fauna (macro-, meioand micro-organisms) which were collected by
students and scientists, and even some of the
visitors got involved. Each visitor had the
opportunity to learn about the different
collection techniques, how the organisms are
identified and what the processed data looks
like. Everyone had a chance to identify some of
the organisms using taxonomic keys with the
help of the scientists. This year, the
competition was won by the terrestrial group,
who found and identified nearly 200 taxa of
plants and insects. The marine group identified
140 taxa within the same time.
The BioBlitz was a huge success and was
enjoyed by all who participated. It is hoped
that this will be an annual event in the Baltic
Science Festival. This year, the festival took
place in nine Polish cities, with 3,800 people
from over 30 institutions involved in its
organization. There was coverage on national
and regional TV stations and radio stations
throughout Poland. It is estimated that 75,000
participants took part in the Science Festival in
2008.
Autumn 2008
MarBEF Newsletter
13